Have You Forgotten?
by Joy Law
Summary: "For a moment afterward, the states were silent. It might have been coincidence, looking back, but Gabe remembers feeling something in the air; something was about to happen. It was fifteen minutes to nine." A Hetalia States fic about 9/11. I own nothing. List of human names for states inside.
1. Chapter 1

to old readers: I've edited a bit of this first chapter thanks to a note from Katgirl129 -very helpful by the way, thank you

sorry about the long list of states- the following sections will have the names by the part but formatting on this section left no room for that

* * *

In order of appearance:

Gabe- Arkansas

Bailey- Wyoming

Carter- Wisconsin

Kira- Alaska

Alexa- California

Lauren- Colorado

Ella- Arizona

Maya- Hawaii (Hawai'i)

D.C.- America

Dylan- Idaho

Morgan- Georgia

Brandon- Illinois

Ashley- Michigan

Destiny- Texas

Aidan- New Jersey

Tom- New York

Victoria- Rhode Island

Sam- Connecticut

Jackson- Indiana

Diego- New Mexico

Paige- Pennsylvania

David- Utah

Anna- Montana

Elizabeth- West Virginia

Samantha- Louisiana

Jasmine- Alabama

Hunter- Mississippi

William- Nevada

Isabelle- Minnesota

Kylie- Missouri

Chloe- Virginia

Robert- Delaware

* * *

Gabe is the first one in the conference room and he smirks and saunters over to the best seat by the window, the one overlooking the hills of the park outside their building. Instead of an empty seat, he finds a paper taped to the back of the seat that reads, "Psych!"

* * *

_I hear people saying, "We don't need this war."_

* * *

He tears the paper off and glares around the room, looking for the culprit. Bailey's head pokes out from behind a column. The fiend is already snickering as he sashays over. "Morning, Arkansas. Thank you for finding my seat for me~"

Gabe signs angrily, "Wyoming..."

His brother grins, "Yes~?"

"I hate you."

Bailey only laughs as Gabe is forced to turn away to find another seat. As they either sit geographically or alphabetically when all fifty plus one of them meet, he is either being sentenced to the other side of the room, or four seats down.

* * *

_Well, I say there's some things, worth fighting for._

* * *

Carter slides into the seat next to Bailey. Gabe ignores Carter's greeting and wanders over to his seat, four down from where he wanted to be. He ignores Bailey when he explains why Gabe is acting pissy today. He just pulls out his notes and stretches out his hands. He'll have to sign anything for Kira again if she misses it and his family is infamous for getting off track. Hopefully Kira won't want to know the stupid fight that'll happen today and he could sit back and relax for once.

* * *

_What about our freedom? _

* * *

Alexa sits next to him, talking rapidly to Lauren at her side. Kira and Ella are no where to be seen and Gabriel sighs a little, even though the room is quickly filling up.

Alexa reaches over and pokes his side and he turns to glare at her. "What?"

She bats her eyes at him and he resists the urge to roll his own. "Could you and Arizona switch seats today? I want to talk to her."

* * *

_And this piece of ground?_

* * *

Gabe groans, a pathetic whistle of air through his partially paralyzed vocal chords. "I just sat down," he signs pathetically.

She looks so damn hopeful. "I never get to see her~"

"You're neighbors."

"Please?"

He rolls his eyes and huffs before moving to gather his stuff and shift over into Ella's seat. Alexa claps excitedly and Gabe glowers at her, but he can't say anything with his hands occupied.

* * *

_We didn't get to keep 'em, by backing down._

* * *

Kira shows up with D.C. and Maya, as Gabe should have expected. D.C. always has the two of them fly in early and stay with him the day before a meeting. The two of them look more asleep than the rest of the states, which might have been because they were still on Pacific time. Maya, after sitting in her seat, yawns widely. Dylan next to her offers to get her a cup of coffee. Maya passes and leans over to rest her head on Morgan's shoulder. Morgan rolls her eyes with fond exasperation and shifts so that Maya would be a little more comfortable.

Kira sits in her seat, holding a cup of coffee and sluggishly takes her stuff out of her bag, not looking to D.C. as he starts the meeting, but Gabe won't need to sign it for her after; it's the same speech each time.

* * *

_They say we don't realize the mess we're getting in._

* * *

Brandon stands up to talk about the car industry, and Kira is still not looking, so Gabe bites the bullet and takes notes for Kira (even though she should know by now to always pay attention when they're in a meeting).

Brandon pulls up some charts and figures and Kira is still not looking; she's just poking at her ears as though doing that would make them start to listen.

When Ashley stands up to add onto something Brandon was saying, Kira finally looks up and starts paying attention, a small light of disappointment in her eyes. Gabe catches himself just looking at her for a while and once he sees her tears, he blinks and looks away.

* * *

_'Fore you start your preaching,_

_let me ask you this, my friend,_

* * *

After the two of them sit down and Destiny and Ella stand up to discuss illegal immigration from Mexico, something that does not affect either of them, Gabe places a hand on Kira's shoulder and feels the girl flinch.

"What's up?" he signs when she looks up to him.

Kira's skin is just slightly lighter than his, but her blush is worse than his could ever be. "My governor and I are trying to see if hearing aids can help me."

"Can they?"

Kira only shook her head, tears building up in her eyes. "The damage," her hands were shaking as she signed, "was too great. Nothing could help."

* * *

_Have you forgotten?_

* * *

For a moment afterward, the states were silent. It might have been a coincidence, looking back, but Gabe remembers feeling something in the air; something was about to happen.

It was fifteen minutes to nine.

Aidan was the first to speak. His voice was concerned and fearful when he asks, loud enough for all of them to hear, "Tom?"

Thomas Jones, New York State, is sitting in his seat, holding his right wrist as though it were being sawed off. His eyes look at nothing in particular. His face is contorted in horror and he takes in a deep breath before he screams.

* * *

_How it felt that day?_

* * *

Victoria is on her feet and running for Tom, muttering as she gets closer, "God no, please God not again." Maya jerks in shock at the scream and stands abruptly across the table from Tom. Morgan is trying to get her to sit back down, trying to cover Maya's ears and eyes because no matter what is going on with Tom, they do not need Maya to be taken back to December 7. Maya's already crying and lets herself be pulled into Morgan's embrace.

Cries of confusion echo through the room as Aidan, Victoria, Alfred, and now Sam get Tom out of his seat and onto the ground. Aidan is white, completely pale and looking as though he is going to throw up.

Phones start to ring around the room and a handful of the states pick up. Ashley is the first to get the news and she claps a hand over her mouth and stares at Tom. Brandon is the next and he says, just loud enough for Jackson beside him to hear, "It's the tower. Someone crashed into the tower."

* * *

_To see your homeland under fire_

_and her people blown away?_

* * *

Kira is asking for him to translate what is happening and he is almost finished when Tom screams again.

This time it's a guttural vocalization of agony and Tom manages to clip out, "Dear God, why?"

And then Tom is howling like there is no tomorrow and there may as well not be from where he's concerned. Aidan is stumbling away, a hand clapped over his mouth and an arm across his abdomen. Diego grabs him and pulls him in close and away from Tom.

Brandon is still on the phone and this time he shouts over the panicked noise the states are making, "The second tower has been hit. It wasn't an accident. Oh my God."

* * *

_Have you forgotten?_

* * *

Everyone is quiet; some are praying, others are sitting down defeated in their chairs. Brandon and Ashley are fidgeting with their phones. Morgan rocks Maya back and forth, keeping Maya's head away from the prone figure of Tom. She might be singing, but Gabe is on the other side of the room from them.

He takes the time to translate fully to Kira what is happening and after he's done, he can feel the anxiousness and unease of waiting for the other shoe to drop fill the spaces between the fifty plus one of them. He doesn't want it to drop; Tom is still crying and Gabe can only imagine the death toll skyrocketing in Tom's head as he lays there. There can't be anything more horrifying in store for them than what has already happened.

He was wrong.

* * *

_About our Pentagon?_

* * *

Bailey is the one to see it first. Bailey, who took Gabe's seat this morning. Bailey, who was so smug about it, is the one to look out the window, maybe just on pure reflex, and he sees the plane. Bailey is the one to watch it careen towards the Pentagon. Bailey sees the smoke.

But Chloe is the only one who can feel it.

All of the air leaves Bailey's lungs as he stares transfixed out the window at the billowing clouds of smoke. At the same time, Chloe screams and grabs at her head, only managing to whack her braces against the table. Jack next to her, who had flinched badly when she had screamed, now fumbles with the clasps on her braces, trying to get her hands free. Zachary next to xem starts to fumble with the other brace.

Gabe sees Alfred stand up and only glance down once at Tom before pushing through the other states to get to Chloe. Her hands are free and she grabs at her head, fingers digging into her hair and _pulling _and screaming. Alfred grabs her and pulls her in tight, making her hands wrap around him instead of her head. She fists his shirt in her hands and her screams turns into sobs.

Gabe notices some of the original states looking at each other- which wouldn't be such a big deal, but it's the way they're looking at each other that makes this so terrifying.

"The two strongest states," Robert whispers from his seat. Lauren looks to him and makes a confused noise. "They were our strongest."

Oh _fuck_.

* * *

_All the loved ones that we lost,_

* * *

Paige pushes herself up onto the table and shouts at the panicking states until they all stop moving. They don't listen to her, so frantic are they. It takes Destiny, climbing up next to Paige, and screaming for everyone to please look over here right now and to shut the hell up, for everyone to notice.

Destiny is white when everyone finally calms down enough. She's swaying where she stands and she is breathing oddly. She blinks rapidly for a few seconds before Paige presses a hand to her shoulders and whispers something in her ear. Destiny goes to jump off of the table; her hands are shaking.

"I'm scared," Paige says. "I know we're all scared. But we need to keep calm, okay?" Her eyes linger on the smoke outside. She blinks and Pennsylvania stares down at them.

There is a difference, and Gabe will argue this until the end of time, between Paige and Pennsylvania, Bailey and Wyoming, or Tom and New York. When they use their human names, they are directly connected to their people and they let their emotions rule them. When they are just Arkansas or Alaska, they are distanced, able to think of the better of the state and nation and not pleasing their people.

Pennsylvania now stares down at them and Gabe feels more like Arkansas in that time than any other that he can remember. "We need to clear out any public space, especially the coasts and any other major cities."

* * *

_And those left to carry on?_

* * *

"Call governors; get everyone out of any government building."

He can't talk. What is he supposed to do?

"Close all of the borders."

He isn't able to call _anyone_. What is he supposed to do?

"Stop all flights in our airspace. Anyone near NYC or D.C. send ambulances and fire trucks."

He shouldn't cry, but tears were already pooling up in his eyes. Alexa touches his shoulder and turns him to face her. She looks scared, but when he wipes away the little moisture on his cheeks and shakes his head, she sighs with relief.

"What's wrong?" she asks softly.

* * *

_Have you forgotten? When those towers fell?_

* * *

"I can't talk," Gabe signs forcefully. "So I can't-"

All eyes snap towards Tom as he screams again. This time it sends a swooping feeling through Gabe's stomach as Tom yells out, "Oh God! MY GOD MAKE IT STOP!"

Tom cries louder and Morgan holds Maya closer. Maya has climbed into her lap and her hands are covering her ears as Morgan's hands run up and down her back.

"Someone turn on the damn news!" Ashley screams, her voice almost too high to understand. She is glaring from her seat, hugging her sides and rocking back and forth. She seems to be waiting for something. She's blinking hard and winces every few seconds.

David does and all of the states not concerned with either Tom or Chloe focus in on the harried newscaster. Alexa watches for a second before pulling her phone and nudging Gabe's shoulder. "What's their phone number?"

* * *

_Yeah, some went down like heroes _

_in that Pennsylvania field._

* * *

Alexa is on the phone with his mayor, double checking what they had done, when Paige's knees give out and she kneels to the ground with control. She is on her knees, curled up over her knees, arms wrapped around her stomach.

_"A hijacked plane just crashed into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania-"_

The room is silent, except for Tom. Morgan is the first to speak up.

"If tomorrow all the things were gone I'd worked for all my life," she sang softly, her voice tinged with tears and fear.

Anna, leaning up against Dylan, starts crying softly. Dylan has an arm around her shoulder and he's swaying gently to a rhythm only he knows. Elizabeth climbs onto the table and wraps her arms around Paige, almost pulling the older girl onto her lap.

Morgan blinks rapidly and swallows hard, almost as if the next verse is stuck in her throat. Kira has sat down and stares straight ahead.

"And I had to start again," Samantha and Jasmine whisper from their seats. Hunter is between the two of them, his head in his hands.

"With just my children and my wife," David says.

Gabe sits next to Kira and touches her shoulder. She looks up to him, her eyes still blank. "I'd thank my lucky stars," he signs.

She doesn't smile, but her hands move, just as William sings, "To be livin' here today."

Songs are a good distraction, Gabe thinks to himself as the rest of the room slowly joins in to murmur together their song. He and Alaska sign out the song as best as they are able to.

* * *

_We had neighbors still inside, _

_going through a livin' Hell._

* * *

They finish "God Bless the USA" and "My Country 'tis of Thee." They are halfway through "America the Beautiful" when Isabelle screams.

_"-those responsible. Let's go back to Cindy in the Newsroom who's joining us now for another update, Cindy-?"_

_"Ah, wait a second; is that a live picture? This is a live picture. We are seeing the second World Trade Tower Center, World Trade Center Tower number one has just collapsed, ladies and gentlemen-"_

Isabelle is staring at the screen in abject horror as smoke rises to replace the old landmarks on New York City's skyline. All of the states join her in staring; except for Victoria, Alfred, Elizabeth, and Sam, who are still leaning over Paige, Chloe, and Tom.

* * *

_You took all the footage off my TV._

* * *

Gabe cannot see it, but Tom is gripping Sam's collar, crying softly, no longer screaming in agony. Sam is on their knees at Tom's side, babbling about fire trucks and rescue workers. Tom keeps whispering to him, "This how you felt, Sam? Durin' the war?"

Sam chokes on a sob and shakes their head. "No. This is not how I felt at all."

Victoria sits behind Sam, a hand on their shoulder as she scans around the states, almost as if she would be able to notice before something happened to one of them and protect them.

Paige is curled up around her stomach. One fist is pressed to it, as though she were about to give herself the heimlich. Her other hand is held loosely by Elizabeth.

Alfred has Chloe in his lap and is sitting in her abandoned chair. Her head is pressed to his collar bone, right above his heartbeat. Her hands are curled into her chest like a T-rex. One of her fingers twitches -counting out heartbeats or counting the dead.

* * *

_Said it's too disturbin' for you 'n' me._

* * *

The following moments pass by in a haze of mute terror and numbness; though, Gabe thinks to himself, he's always mute so the only new thing is the terror and numbness. Kylie squeezes in between him and a tired Kira, but doesn't say anything. They let Kira's head fall onto their shoulder, but doesn't try to sign anything to Gabe.

He doesn't want to talk which is good because he can't.

* * *

_It'll just breed anger; _

_that's what the experts say._

* * *

An upended chair is all the warning they get before Aidan storms to the ajar door. He takes it in his hand and throws it shut. The sound makes some look up, but most don't react.

Evidently the sound isn't enough for Aidan, as he wrenches the door open again and again, slamming it harder and harder each time. Diego and Taylor stand up and start to go towards him.

The hinges break off. The door falls. The room is silent.

Aidan leans against the doorframe, facing away from the rest of them. His very posture screams defeat. Taylor watches him for a second, but then she and Diego shake their heads and go to sit down.

Gabriel needs out of this room. He ignores everyone.

* * *

_If it was up to me I'd show it everyday_

_Some say this country's just out looking for a fight_

* * *

He's smoking outside when a security guard approaches him.

"Sir? Sir?"

He looks to her, letting out a long drag of smoke, but nice enough to keep it some what aimed away from her. He quirks his eyebrows and waits for her to continue.

"This building is under lock-down, I have to ask you to leave the premises unless you have validation."

He just stares at her; partially because he knows she can't understand ASL even if she tried, and the other because he still doesn't want to talk and can't a fella have a smoke in peace when his country is being ravaged by terrorists?

Oh to Hell with it. Now she's asking if he understands English.

He gives her the finger. So what if they'll detain him. He can't stay with _them_ any longer.

* * *

_Well, after 9/11 man I'd have to say that's right_

* * *

-lil' bit of explanation; when the Constitution was adopted, New York and Virginia were one of the last few states to sign it. They were key in getting the Constitution adopted because NY blocked all access to New England (the majority of which had already signed the constitution) if it did not become a state and Virginia had a lot of power of trade and size (as did NY).


	2. Chapter 2

Lillian - Kansas

Destiny- Texas

Mia- Oklahoma

Anna- Montana

Aidan- New Jersey

Luke- Oregon

Jack - Washington

* * *

Lillian has a list of what they have to do when Destiny is sad. Most of the time it is because she remembered something she never wanted to. The Alamo is one of the things she doesn't want to remember, even if you're supposed to.

Step One: Make Dest sit down.

It took them and Mia to calm Destiny down enough for her to sit down. She isn't upset like crying upset like Anna is, or punch in the door upset like Aidan is. She's more defeated upset with little bouts of anger every few seconds. So she didn't stop pacing until Mia, who's closer in height to Destiny, pushed her down into a chair.

Step Two: Coffee.

Mia has to make the coffee while Lillian stays with Destiny. Lillian tried to make the coffee before, but she made it wrong, too much sugar, not enough milk. At any rate, whatever made the coffee wrong caused Destiny to get really upset and it took the two of them too long to calm her down.

Step Three: Shoulder rub.

Lillian decides to do this while Mia is still making the coffee. They lean Destiny forward a bit and then work on smoothing away any tension in Destiny's shoulders. Destiny doesn't say anything at all while they work, but she's always quiet until step five

Step Four: No. Touching.

When Mia comes back with the coffee, Destiny takes it blindly and swallows down enough quickly to burn her mouth, but Lillian knows that's her way of staying grounded. Pain is easy to focus on if you want to escape your mind. Besides, it's not like she won't heal in a few seconds.

Lillian and Mia take a seat on either side of Destiny and let her work out what she's feeling. They have to keep their hands to themself or else they'll be back at step one.

Step Five: Listen silently.

Before they would have to coax Destiny with questions about what, why, or who she was thinking of. They've done this so many times, and not just for Destiny, that all three of them know the questions by heart.

"I was thinking about the Dust Bowl," Destiny says softly when her coffee is almost gone. The look on Mia's face lets Lillian know that Destiny wasn't alone in thinking about it. Lillian hadn't let themself get too far in their memories. If they did then they'd just get stuck there and it takes a lot more effort to be where Destiny is now. "And all the people."

So maybe Lillian should have been thinking about the Dust Bowl. More of their territory had been affected than either Mia, who is most commonly remembered for it, or Destiny.

Destiny laughs into her coffee cup. "I guess it's not the same."

Step Six: Let Mia talk first. Agree with everything she says.

Lillian knows they aren't the most delicate person in the world. They're more of a direct and sudden kind of person. Mia, however, had a much easier time being delicate about feelings. So she is always the first to address Destiny when she's sad.

"No not really," Mia says softly, reaching one hand out to place it gently on Destiny's shoulder. "But that doesn't mean you can't think about it."

"You probably thought I was thinkin' 'bout the Alamo," Destiny says equally as soft.

"When Vicky," Lillian starts. Mia and Destiny turn to them and watch silently. Lillian clears their throat. "When Vicky was running for Tom, I thought about...Bleeding Kansas."

Mia and Destiny watch them for a while before they feel the need to explain. "I was just thinking. I mean, no rememberin'. It just occur'd to me. 'Specially when Maya was..." Lillian trails off. They look away before looking back after scanning over the faces of their siblings.

Mia looks defeated. Her expression is slack and unfocused. Her blond hair is sticking up in places. Her eyes are a darker brown than they have ever been, and there's a small ring of red under her eyes. Her lips have indents from her teeth; she has a bad habit of chewing on her lips when she's nervous.

Destiny just looks tired. She took of her glasses and rubs at her brown eyes. Her cheeks are stained pink and her freckles look darker than ever. She has a smudge of eyeshadow on her hand when she pulls it away and her eyelashes are stuck in strange angles. She did something new with her hair, Lillian notices offhandedly even though they should have noticed earlier; the three of them are staying in the same hotel room.

Lillian hopes they don't look entirely disgusting, because that would be _awful_. Not like Mia or Destiny would tell them, but Luke would make an offhand comment about it because he thinks he's just the bee's knees about fashion.

Speaking of Luke, he looks as though he's a designated driver with an annoying drunk hanging off of him. And the drunk just stamped on his toes because his eyes are watering and Jack is still holding on as though xe is going to fall if xe so much as lessens xyrs hold around Luke's neck.

Destiny pipes up. "D'you guys want to hunt for a kitchen around here? We'll all need somethin' to eat."

* * *

Sydney "Lina"- N. Carolina

Alexander "Carol"- S. Carolina

Ryan- Kentucky

Savannah- Tennessee

Evan "North"- N. Dakota

Addison "South"- S. Dakota

* * *

Sydney absolutely did not jump out of her skin in her haste to get to South. She very calmly walked away from Aidan and Tom the minute it had begun to stand with South. He was always very calming to stand with and it made her feel a little better, especially since she hasn't really seen him since she moved in with Ryan and Savannah.

_Evan_ is the one who almost knocked over Mia and Luke in his haste to get to Addison.

So now the four of them were sitting. Their seats were pushed out in a small semi-circle so that if Evan leaned forward on his knees and if Alex, who never sat any other way than ramrod straight anyway, slouched forward the two would touch.

Addison is trying to get them to smile, purposefully being louder than anyone else in the room. She's telling them about that one time she and Evan went to visit Jason (which could be either Manitoba or Saskatchewan, Sydney can't really keep the two separate no matter how many times she has met them) and the three of them didn't realize that France was staying over with Canada when they decided to crash at the nation's house.

Canada had tried to pass them off as kids he'd hired to clean his house and had sent the three of them outside to go clean the gutters out, but Addison had sauntered back in under the pretense of "looking for a ladder" and got the death glare from Canada over France's shoulder as she struck up a conversation with the nation about the color of her hair.

"It ended up with him just telling me to let my hair grow naturally," Addison says. There is a pause where Sydney _knows_ she must be rolling her eyes. "But being blonde is only fun for four decades."

"Which flag was it?" Sydney asks. Addison always dyes her hair in the fashion of a flag. And since she changes it so frequently and Sydney sees her even less, there's no way for her to remember what order the flags were in. It was better to just ask Addison. Today, Savannah told her it was red, but she has no idea what state that would be. A lot of their flags have red in them.

Addison takes a moment to mull it over. Evan answers for her.

"It was mine, remember? Jason thought it was everyone's because you were wearing that red fedora with the white stars."

There is a silence in which Sydney guesses they are just staring at each other. "How do you remember that?"

Evan is probably rolling his eyes. "We went up to _Canada_ and you were parading around like the Stars and Stripes; everyone was staring. Besides my governor took me aside and asked why I was buying so much blue hair dye."

Addison snickers. "It was North's."

"Mine?" Sydney says, faking her surprise. "Aw Addie, you're too kind."

Alex snorts. "Lina, no one calls you North. Besides, I have more blue in _my_ flag than you do."

"Well they should call me North, I was _first_," she says, the second part of the sentence aimed at Evan. She has her hands on her hips, leaning forward with her feet tucked under her seat. This prompts a few chuckles from Alex and Addison while Evan makes an exaggerating noise when he sticks out his tongue. For her benefit, she likes to think.

But then they are silent. Maybe they ran out of things to say to fill the silence. Or maybe the silence wasn't something easily covered with pretty words.

Sydney presses a hand to her mouth and turns to where Alex should be. She holds out a hand for him and he takes it, pulling her closer. She scoots her chair closer to his and rests her forehead on his shoulder. He rubs her back and she lets her shoulders fall in defeat.

The attacks were going south. Alex is south. What would she do if she lost him? What if he suffered like she had? How could she tell?

Evan is humming under his breath and Sydney only half-recognizes the song. Addison, after a while, sings lowly under her breath, her fingers drumming out the rhythm on the armrest of her chair.

"You were my strength when I was weak. You were my voice when I couldn't speak."

"You were my eyes when I couldn't see," Alex sings, his soft baritone overriding Addison's soft melody. Sydney thinks the lyrics are _horribly_ ironic and now she wants to cry even harder when Alex follows up with the subsequent line. "You saw the best there was in me."

* * *

Caleb- Ohio

Jackson- Indiana

Ashley- Michigan

Brandon- Illinois

Kame- Kame the Turtle (Michigan's pet)

Victoria- Rhode Island

* * *

Caleb nudges Jackson's shoulder and nods towards Ashley. She's sitting in her seat, scribbling furiously on a piece of paper with one hand and running down a list on her phone in her other hand.

Jackson quirks one eyebrow and holds up three fingers. He drops a finger with each step until he just points at Ashley and the two descend upon her from either side.

"Hiyah Ash!" they greet loudly.

Ashley, disappointingly, does not react to them. She continues to flicker through her contacts and scribble down what looks to be names and numbers. Caleb looks up to Jackson and they exchange a 'you ask, no you ask, you ask, the last time I asked she bit me so you ask' look. Eventually, Jackson rolls his eyes and looks back down at Ashley's trembling hands.

"Whatcha doin' Ash?"

Ashley swallows and Caleb is incredibly jealous that she answers to Jackson and not him. "If Detroit gets hit, this is a list of who you need to call in the order that you need to call them."

"Ash-"

"Don't tell me that Detroit won't get hit, Jackson. We don't know anything. If they're moving west, they'll hit Detroit or Cincinnati or Springfield or _Chicago; where the fuck is Brandon?"_

"Ashley," Caleb jumps in, grabbing her arms as she stands out of her seat. "Calm down."

"Where the _fuck_ is Brandon? He could be dead or dying. What if they hit Chicago and no one knows because that great big idiot is dying the in men's room?"

"Even if," Caleb shouts over Ashley's panic. "Even if they hit Chicago, that wouldn't kill Brandon. And they'd be showing it on the news. Chicago's fine; Brandon's fine."

"Where the fuck is he then?"

"Ja-" But Jackson is already walking away, waving a hand over his shoulder at Caleb. Caleb makes a face at his back, but turns right back to Ashley, whose hands are cupping the sides of her head and her eyes are widening in panic. "Hey hey, Ash. Look at me. We're all okay. Where's Kame? Where's your turtle?"

Ashley blinks at him for a moment before looking as though she's swallowing acid. "I left him in Detroit. He'll die if Detroit gets hit. Oh my-"

_Aw crap._ "Ash, did you sleep at all last night?" Ashley always had a tough time sleeping outside of Michigan; she never really left the state. And if she didn't bring her little buddy with her, she had basically nothing to remind her of home in her hotel room.

As though thrown by the strange question, Ashley stops panicking and just stares at Caleb. "What? No. The bed kept on squealing and I had a little too much coffee right before because I wasn't finished with my report and then I was, but I kept on drinking it while I watched TV."

"When'd you fly in?"

"Two days ago." She has the sense to look a little sheepish at her statement, especially when Caleb openly gapes at her.

"_Two days_, Ash? You haven't slept well for _two nights?"_

"It was an overnight flight," she mumbles, looking to the side, "so three."

That is unacceptable, Caleb thinks to himself and grabs Ashley's arm (and her phone and list because she'd go crazy without either) and starts to lead her out of the room.

"Wh-Caleb?"

"We're going to meet up with Hoosier and Brandon and then we're going back to your hotel and forcing you to sleep for a few hours."

Ashley splutters from behind him as they pass by Victoria.

"Yo Vicky, we going to Ash's hotel to take a nap." Caleb smirks at the "why should I care" that Vicky fired at their backs. "Glad to know she still cares about us."

* * *

Owen- Massachusetts

Brianna- Maryland

Robert- Delaware

Sam- Connecticut

* * *

Owen actually came up with the idea. Brianna didn't. But then again, Owen's had a lot of disasters happen to him and he's been to war before. So he knows more about it.

But- there's always a 'but' when Owen and Sam are involved-

But _she_ had to ask if they could go help with the pentagon. Because Robert couldn't do it just as much as Owen couldn't do it. Why?

"Hey, Sam?" Brianna says. Sam glances up briefly from Tom before returning their gaze to him. Brianna took that as a hint to continue. "We're gonna go and help out with the relief efforts at the Pentagon."

Sam grunts. Owen, standing next to her, nudges her and he and Robert start walking slowly to the door. Brianna turns to follow them.

"Wait," Sam says softly, "who's going?" They turn around and scrutinize her and the two boys who have frozen behind her.

"Um...me?"

"And," Sam presses as they get off of their knees.

"Us," Robert says softly. Sam glances past Brianna and they frown immediately.

"No."

That's why- Sam was ultra protective of Owen and Robert. Though Brianna guessed that the only reason why they were protective of Robert was because they raised Robert- with Victoria, but Robert always preferred Sam for some reason. And the relationship between Owen and Sam was treated in a "don't ask, don't tell" fashion by Sam. Everyone else around them learned to give Sam their space about it. The only one who would really push at Sam's boundaries was Owen. But even then, Owen knew his brother and he knew that Sam would not let him out of their sight now.

Owen sighs. "Sam-"

"No."

"We can't get killed if we go over there."

Sam frowns harder, crossing their arms and glaring at Owen fiercely. "No, no you can't. But that doesn't mean that Boston or Wilmington are safe. If you get hit-"

"No one would dare hit Boston," Owen says with a cheeky grin. "Not after the Revolution."

Sam's eyes flash bright and dangerous for a quick second. "Don't laugh about that."

"I'm not, I'm just saying that Boston can hold her own."

"That doesn't mean-"

"Even if-" Owen shouts over Sam "-even if my capital is hit, I won't die. They'd have to take out my government to do that, remember? And you wouldn't let them."

Sam's eyes are tearing up and Brianna looks away out of respect and also because she couldn't stand to see Sam cry. There was nothing handsome about it and it was just _strange_. Like seeing your parent cry.

"I know you wouldn't," Owen finishes, his voice soft and gentle. "We just want to help D.C. any way we can. If we help the people that are injured, stop the fires, take care of the deceased, then he'll get better. We're too far away from Pennsylvania or NYC to do anything there, but…"

"Fine," Sam spits, their voice thick. "I hate when you make sense."

Owen grins and steps forward lightning fast and hugs Sam tightly. Sam's arms are immediately wrapped around Owen just as tight. When the two pull away, Sam locks eyes with Robert and makes grabby hands. Robert's smile is sheepish as he steps forward and is enveloped just as soundly as Owen was. As Robert is released, Brianna turns to start heading out with Owen, but Sam catches her arm and yanks her to a stop.

When she turns, they have a watery grin aimed at her. "Don't think you can get away from me that easy," they chuckle before pulling her close. She squeals and jumps up, wrapping her legs around their torso and hugging their neck tightly. They go '_oof'_ and stumble slightly, but keep a tight hold on her so that she wouldn't fall. She jumps down soon after, grinning brightly and Sam only shakes their head at her before patting her cheek and ushering them out.

She links arms with the two of them and tugs them out of the room.

* * *

Kylie- Missouri

Kira- Alaska

Gabriel- Arkansas

* * *

Kylie's phone buzzes and they look down at it and frown when they see that it's Gabe calling them. They hit ignore.

Tuesday, Sep 11 10:32 AM Missouri: _what are you doing?_

_Missed call: Arkansassy_

Tuesday, Sep 11 10:34 AM Missouri: _why are you calling me?_

_Missed call (2): Arkansassy_

Tuesday, Sep 11 10:34 AM Missouri: _where did you go?_

_Missed call(3): Arkansassy_

Tuesday, Sep 11 10:34 AM Missouri: _fine I'll pick up, but if you're doing the stupid breathing thing again im kicking your ass_

_Incoming call: Arkansassy_

"What?" Kylie snaps into the receiver as they slide it unlocked, fully expecting no response or a loud blaring horn.

"Hello, is this the head of the security detail at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center-" I'm going to kill him, Kylie thinks as the voice continues "-I have the owner of this phone in custody-" Kylie slaps a hand to their forehead "-on grounds of trespassing. You are listed as his in case of emergency contact." Kylie drags the hand down their face and groans. "May I have your relation to the owner?"

"He's my brother, I'm his sister. My name is Kylie Jones. He's Gabriel Jones," they say on auto-pilot.

"Mr. Jones," the voice continues, "will not respond to any form of communication."

"Did he give you his ID?" Kylie asks, standing up and nudging Kira's shoulder. Kira looks up and Kylie cradles the phone with their shoulder and ear as they sign for Kira to grab her bag and that the two of them are going to pick up Gabe.

"He will not respond to any question and only looks blankly at us."

Kylie growls in frustration. Of course he's in one of those moods. "May I talk to him?" they ask as they walk back to their seat to grab their purse.

"I am going to place you on speaker," the voices says.

Kylie rolls her eyes and marches, with Kira right behind of them, out of their designated room and the destroyed doorway. "Gabriel Rock Jones, you are an idiot. Give them your ID. Kira and I are heading your way right now. Just respond to them dammit." They hear a barely there scoff and their temper flares up even more. They and Kira step into an elevator. "Don't you dare, not today. Use your hands, you damn idiot. I'll be there in less than a minute."

They hang up and scream under their breath as the elevator opens. Kira eyes them as they step out and Kylie starts explaining as they walk to the security desk. They take a moment before stepping up to fish out their ID. They slap it down and scowl up at the guard sitting there.

"My brother is in there, I was recently called to come pick him up. He is mute and can't respond verbally. He is also not in a position to explain that to anyone at the moment, so any ignoring of questions was just because he knows that it's fruitless to argue with them when they can't understand him.

"We are both employees here. We work under Mr. Jones, the head of internships. If you have any questions about our employment, see him."

The guard's expression made it clear that he was scared of Kylie and he waves them on through and doesn't even object when Kylie grabs Kira's hand and drags her in too.

Kylie storms up to the first security officer that they see and glare right up at her.

The woman blinks and takes a step back. "Hello?"

"I'm Kylie Jones, I was called to pick up my brother, Gabriel Jones."

The security guard's eyes flickers behind Kylie to the silent and impassive Kira. "And you are?"

"My sister. May I see my brother now?"

The woman looks sternly down at Kylie. "Miss Jones, your brother was found hanging around the back of the building, smoking, and behaving rather suspiciously. This should not be treated lightly right now. The nation is on Red Alert-"

"Don't I fucking know that? Were you the woman who picked him up?"

"I am."

"Were you the one who aided with the questioning?"

"I called you miss."

"Did Gabriel give you his ID?"

The woman stalls for a second. "No he did not."

"Okay well," Kylie pauses and lets out a _whoosh _of air, "I'm sorry, I'm feeling very volatile at the moment and Gabriel being stubborn is not helping. My brother has partial vocal cord paralysis; the best sound he can make on a good day is only somewhat understandable to me and I have known him through his entire life. He communicates through ASL, but days like this, when he is being stubborn, he won't make an effort to listen or show that he can understand you. He can understand a whole slew of languages, but English is his best. It's explained on his ID. What was he like when you picked him up?"

The woman scowls. "When I found him outside, he was smoking and upon my questions, he proceeded to make a crass motion."

Kylie can feel Kira staring at them. "Hold on for one moment please," they say before turning to Kira and signing, '_I told her about Arkansas and his voice. She said that he gave her the finger when she found him outside of the building.'_

Kira only rolls her eyes. She makes two circles with two fingers above her fisted hand before resting the two fingers on the back of her hand. '_Typical_.'

Kylie barks a laugh before turning back to the security guard. "So, what will it take to get him out of custody?"


	3. Chapter 3

Aidan- New Jersey

Alexa- California

Diego- New Mexico

Lauren- Colorado

* * *

"This is all YOUR FAULT!"

"What?!" Alexa spits as Aidan storms toward her. Diego stands behind him, watching apprehensively. Lauren stands beside Alexa, staring at Aidan as though she had never seen him before. "How could any of this be my fault?"

Aidan shoves her shoulders. Immediately, her reaction is to shove him back and then punch his nose hard and fast with the heel of her hand. He stumbles back hands reaching up to cradle his nose. Alexa only feels slightly bad as she watches the skin bruise. "Those flights," he snarls, eyes blinking with barely suppressed rage and smarting pain, "were going to LA."

"Newsflash, Aidan," she snaps as Lauren grabs her arm, "millions of flights head to LA every day." Lauren tugs harder and tries to pull her away, but Alexa is livid now. Angry at her because she was the destination? He should really be angry at where those flights took off. "Besides, if anything you should blame the airports where they took off." She sneers and wrenches her arm out of Lauren's grip- Lauren's nails scratching at her skin. "Since they were the ones to let the hijackers on the planes."

Aidan growls and leaps for her, his hands twisted like claws. Alexa grabs his wrists and uses his momentum to flip the two of them over her head so when Aidan falls flat on his back, she is straddling his stomach. She smirks down at him as he hisses and suddenly she's off balance and they're rolling until she's on her back. He punches her cheek- doesn't do much but bruise. She catches his shoulders in her hands and locks her elbows. He grips her upper arms hard enough to bruise as she gets her feet onto his hips. He thrashes now, but Alexa bends her elbows quickly and before he could do anything more, she pushes up and away with her feet and arms. He lands on his back a few feet away from her. She kips up and stares down at him.

Diego looks at her for a second and she notices the apprehension and scoffs before turning around. She doesn't get farther than two steps before she hears crying again. Lauren is watching Aidan and Diego, but Alexa only turns her head slightly.

Diego's voice is low. "There's nothing anyone could have done, Aidan."

"But _why_?" Aidan whispers. "I just don't understand."

Diego is silent for a long time. "Lets go see Tom, 'kay?"

Lauren sighs and looks to Alexa. She goes back to her seat and stands behind it for a few seconds. She studies her nails and then picks at the ends of them. She glances up across the table and blinks at Alfred and Chloe. Chloe's face had slowly been reddening into a light sunburn as she rested against D.C. Alfred was holding Chloe gently, but he was staring at nothing in particular with a steely gaze.

She lets out a light breath and sinks into her chair, holding her head in her hands, shoulders shaking in a obvious way. Alexa sighed and grabbed her chair and pulled it closer to Lauren. She rested her head against Lauren's shoulder. She closed her eyes.

A little while later, she looked over to her phone over in her pile of papers. The screen lit up and buzzed a few times for good measure, but Alexa was just too tired.

* * *

"-No I haven't been able to get in touch with him either, England...Of _course_ I'm worried, what do you mean I'm not? But I know there's not much I can do about it...His borders are _closed_…. yes to even me... yes well when I do get ahold of him I'll have him call you. Okay. Goodbye."

Canada hangs up the phone and rubs his forehead in stress. He'd called every American number he had on his phone- in between phone calls from France, England, and other nations that had called him when America didn't answer- but none of them had picked up.

There is a knock on his office door and he looks up to find Alberta standing in front of his desk. He sighs, "Yes, Liam?"

"Thought I'd tell you that Montana said something about a meeting today."

Canada frowns. "Where?"

Alberta shrugs. "Where else? D.C."

A cold rush of fear rips through him. "Please not at their Pentagon."

Alberta shrugs again. "I don't think so. I think Montana said that's their department of defense, so probs not there."

"Have you spoken to Montana? Today?"

"Just this morning."

"She didn't say anything about what building she's in?"

"No."

"Okay, thank you for your input. Is Manitoba out there or at home."

"Home, he took an early lunch with Newfoundland, Nunavut, and PEI. Saskatchewan's out there if you want him."

"Yes, sure fine."

Alberta turns and shouts into the hallway for Saskatchewan and soon the other boy joins them in Canada's office.

"Have you talked to any of the states today?"

He thinks about it for a moment then shrugs vaguely. "I don't know."

"Do you know where they have their meetings in D.C.?"

"No."

Canada sighs again and covers his face with his hands, sinking down into his chair. "Okay, thank you, you two can be dismissed. Tell the rest of them that they can go home or something. I'm going to try and call Alfred one more time."

After they left, but before he got the energy to try another failed call to his brother, his phone rings one more time.

He picks it up- expecting France. "Bonjour."

"Canada?" a soft voice asks instead. "It's-it's Montana."

He sits up straight. "Montana! Are you guys okay? Where are you?"

She is silent except for a small hiccup. "No one's really hurt. We're all just scared right now, and California and New Jersey were fighting and it looks like Connecticut is going to stab New Mexico, but I'm not sure why…"

"Where's Alfred?"

"He's with Chloe- she's got something of a migraine because the Pentagon is on her land, but the people are D.C.'s, but he's not saying if he's hurt or not. He's kinda just glaring."

"How's New York?"

"He's...stopped screaming by now."

"There's someone else, who else was hurt?"

"Well, Pennsylvania threw up and West took her to the bathroom."

"Okay, so everyone is there?"

"No."

…

"Please elaborate, Montana."

"I don't see Michigan, Ohio, Illinois or Indiana. Alaska and Missouri ran out a few minutes ago. Massachusetts, Maryland, and Delaware are missing too. I think Arkansas stormed out just after it happened. Oh and Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas aren't here either."

"So there's only something like 37 of you there."

"Sure...um, Canada?"

"Yes?"

"Can you come over please?"

He sighs- he was doing a lot of that. "It'll take me longer to get to D.C. than there are hours in the day."

"No, just uh, I can meet you at the Canada-Montana border and get you here quick."

"You can do that?"

"Well I can't bring you into the building, but I can get us to Montana Avenue. We'd be kind of close then."

"Okay, I'll meet you there soon, be careful, Montana."

"Of course."

* * *

Samantha- Louisiana

Hunter- Mississippi

Jasmine- Alabama

Lillian (Lils)- Kansas

Bryan- Florida

* * *

"What do you think is going to happen now?" Samantha asks quietly.

The nerves in Hunter's leg have been pinging and smarting for the past few minutes and they've mostly ignored it because there was no leg there to be worried about.

They look up to see Jasmine rubbing where her arm ended and then turn to Samantha. "War, probably."

Jasmine frowns and rakes a hand through her hair. "Where? You don't think here?"

"Well, we don't even know who caused it."

"Doesn't matter," Samantha says as she looks to the television screen. The president is on screen, speaking to a mass of reporters about how the military centers around the world should be on high alert. "We'll find out."

Some time later, Jasmine starts to sob. Alarmed, Hunter and Samantha turn to her, but she shakes her head, her hand over her mouth as her eyes brim over with tears.

"I don't want to," she repeats and repeats as Samantha pulls her into a hug and runs her hands down her back.

"You don't have to fight," Samantha says, smiling and blinking back tears as she does. "Okay? Listen to me, you don't. Don't let anyone try to get you to go again. And if they do just point out that you're missing a limb."

Hunter's eyes burn and they swallow hard, hoping that they won't start crying too. "Yeah, they normally get too awkward and flustered to continue the conversation." Their voice cracks on the first word.

Jasmine laughs in Samantha's hold. "Mine's a little more obvious, Hunter. I don't wear a prosthetic."

Lillian wanders by, a trolley full of food in front of them. They cast a sympathetic smile to Jasmine, but smile a bit brighter towards Hunter and Samantha. "Anything off the trolley, dears?"

Samantha smiles a bit and wipes at one eye while Hunter says lowly, a wry smile on their face. "We'll take the lot."

Lillian laughs. "I've got sandwiches, po' boys, as y'all say," they nod to Samantha who smiles more and swallows and sucks in a breath, "Coffee, blessed drink of the gods, potato chips, and coleslaw or pickling cukes. Still want the lot?"

"Please," Hunter says, hands stretching out to take the three sandwiches Lillian offers them. The rest is tossed on the table by Lillian- the coleslaw and chips in plastic containers, the two cucumbers roll for a while before Samantha stops them- aside from the three coffees which Hunter takes carefully. "Thanks, Lil's."

They salute them and begin to walk away. "Anytime."

Samantha picks up the container of chips and holds it up with one hand, the other still rubbing circles into Jasmine's back. "Are these homemade. _Yes_, I love Texas."

Hunter gnaws on a pickling cucumber while debating the pros and cons of getting up to find sugar and cream for Jasmine and their coffee.

They stand and announce it, leaving the cucumber on a napkin. At the coffee station in the back of the room, they find Bryan leaning against the counter, looking down into a cup while the pot behind him stutters and groans as the coffee pours down.

"Bryan," they say as they try to reach around to find the sugar packets and cream.

He jerks up. "Oh, hi Hunter. How are you holding up?"

"...pretty good," Hunter concedes as he finds the sugar. "You? Why are you over here all alone?"

Bryan shrugs and stares back down at his cup, but not before Hunter notices that his eyes are red-rimmed. "South went to sit with the rest of the directionals, and Georgia's with Maya, has been for a while, and Delaware skedaddled recently."

"And you thought the coffee maker was a better companion," Hunter supplies, hoping for a chuckle. It didn't slip his attention that Bryan did not answer his first question.

Bryan smiles slightly, but still looks into his coffee as though it were going to comfort him. "I dunno, I just wanted another cup and the Lil train hadn't hit me yet like I see it has you-" he nods to the cup in Hunter's hand (that is actually burning a bit so he shifts his hand, _ow_). "-and I guess, I just got caught up in my own thoughts."

Bryan is curling into himself the more Hunter watches and Hunter can only feel sadness for their brother. He holds out a hand, prepared to walk (read: drag) Bryan over to where they were sitting like a child. "C'mon, why don't you sit with me, Jaz, and Samantha. I can grab another po'boy from Lil."

"I'm okay."

"Please?" they try again. "I don't want to be the only male presenting person over there."

Bryan still hesitates, as though uncertain if he would be welcome which just makes Hunter's blood boil because they are still _brothers_, God dammit, and if Bryan is still doubting that after almost _180 years_ and the _freaking Civil War,_ then Hunter is going to have to sit him down and maybe smack him after a very clear statement that yes you are our brother and you don't need to be afraid to talk to one of us, we won't _bite_ you, for the love of all things good and holy.

Exasperated, Hunter drops his hand replaces it on his hip. "Do you want me to get Samantha over here to convince you?"

Bryan laughs, maybe because he knows that Hunter isn't going to do anything of the sort, maybe because he hasn't actually seen Samantha in action- Hunter, on the other hand has and she is frighteningly good at convincing you to see her side. "Okay," he says.

* * *

David- Utah

Dylan- Idaho

Anna- Montana

* * *

He is leaning against the wall near where he was sitting before everything went to shit. He has an uneaten sub in his hand, but it's slowly being forgotten about as his thoughts spiral darker and darker.

Dylan comes to lean up against the wall next to him. Their face is upturned and they seemed to be focused on breathing through their mouth. David fumbles in his pockets for a second before finding a packet of tissues and handing them over. "Where's Anna?"

Dylan blows their nose. "She went to pick up Mr. Canada."

"How are they getting through the border?"

Dylan waves a hand. "I think her plan was to literally grab him and zap herself back here so that there wouldn't be any need to involve the authorities. It could also be that she's appearing in some backwood area where there are no customs."

They are silent. Dylan leans over, a few moments later, and rests their head on David's shoulder. When David turns a little to see their face, he sees Dylan's eyebrows scrunched together and his eyes are closed tight. He lets them be.

"Are you okay?" Dylan asks eventually.

David had been stuck in his own head, but at the question he blinks. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Dylan shrugs. "I dunno, you were close to Chloe when it happened."

David doesn't know what to say to that instead he only sighs. "Yeah, I'm more concerned about Bailey. He was the only one to see something. We just heard and watched."

Dylan hums. "Where is he, do you see him?"

"He's sitting with Connor, I think."

Silence stretched between them again and David fidgeted with his uneaten sandwich, contemplating eating it- he felt rather sick to his stomach at this point of the night.

"Everyone looks so sad," he says quietly a few moments later.

"I've got my laptop, think we can get them to dance?"

David smiles beside himself. "I guess it's worth a shot."

* * *

The song starts up (with a guitar intro and then: _Sun coming up over New York City/ School bus driver in a traffic jam/ Staring at the faces in the rearview mirror/ Looking at the promise of the promised land_) and heads around the room jerk up to find Dylan and David starting a line dance. They're clapping, turning and stepping to the sides. Sarah watches them, a smile picking at her lips.

For the most part, everyone is watching them (Sam looks kind of angry, but that might only be because of the opening line because the Sam Sarah knows loves to dance).

David looks kind of self-conscious, but Dylan is smiling largely (it looks kind of fake).

As the song segways into the chorus (_Only in America, dreaming in red, white, and blue/ Only in America, where we dream as big as we want to/ We all get a chance, everybody gets to dance/ Only in America_), Addison joins the dancing, Sydney eventually dragging out Evan and Alex to join. Addison is smiling and shouting out dance steps (her smile isn't fake and Sarah smiles in reflex).

David is smiling now, but his cheeks are still kind of red, but he waves for Will to join them. Will nudges Luke and Jack and the three join as the song sings about newlyweds in LA (Alexa is on the side is watching warily, but her head is bobbing almost unconsciously to the beat of the music).

Ella and Diego join next, sliding into place next to Will. Ella's smile is too big for her face as she twists and sashays with the music. Diego's more formal- stiff is a better descriptor- as he dances, but he's smiling as well.

Lillian tugs Mia and Destiny on the impromptu dance floor right after (Destiny is trying to keep up her glare, but she can't and soon she's laughing and smiling just as much as Mia and Lil).

Maya runs across the room to where Alexa is and hooks an arm around her and pulls her to the front line (_She came out here to be an actress/ He was a singer in a band/ They just might go back to Oklahoma/ And talk about the stars they could have been_) as Morgan and Samantha lead Jasmine, Hunter, and Bryan out.

Isabelle, Gavin, and Carter follow, with Connor and Bailey next. Savannah rolls out soon after (dancing as best she can while in her chair), with Ryan right behind her.

Taylor, sitting next to Sarah, has been eyeing her as the song progressed, but as the chorus starts up again, she only grins and grabs Sarah's hand. Just after the two of them join the movement of the dance, Victoria is dragged out by Zach (she's laughing as she tugs back on her arm, trying to find solace in the wall where she wouldn't be 'judged'- even though known of them save for Kira are really good at traditional dancing, but it's line dancing and you don't really have to do anything aside from stomp, step, spin, and clap).

(She can't stop smiling right now, her cheeks are starting to hurt. She makes eye contact with Tom who's smiling sadly as he watches them, Aidan and Sam on either side are watching with a little bit of longing, but mostly an ache of sadness that dims Sarah's smile for a second before Sam shakes their head and forces a smile.)

(Alfred is bopping to the music as well, singing along with them even though he could dance, but he's holding Chloe and it doesn't look like he's going to let go of her anytime soon)

* * *

the 'Directionals' refers to the states with North/South/West in their name

The song is "only in America" by Brooks and Dunn which was produced right before 9/11 and was used as a pick me up afterwards

Stay safe today guys


End file.
